Creation: God’s Answer to Evolution
23
“The heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.”
“And God saw everything He had made, and, behold, it was very
good.” No taint of sin or shadow of death marred the fair creation.
“The morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for
joy.”
Job 38:7
.
The Blessing of the Sabbath
In six days the great work of creation had been accomplished. And
God “rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had made.
And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it; because that in it
He had rested from all His work which God created and made.” All
was perfect, worthy of its divine Author; and He rested, not as one
weary, but as well pleased with the fruits of His wisdom and goodness.
After resting on the seventh day, God set it apart as a day of rest.
Following the example of the Creator, man was to rest upon this sacred
day that he might reflect upon God’s work of creation, that his heart
might be filled with love and reverence for his Maker.
The Sabbath was committed to the whole human family, its obser-
vance to be a grateful acknowledgment that God was their creator and
rightful sovereign. They were the work of His hands, the subjects of
[19]
His authority.
God saw that a Sabbath was essential for man, even in Paradise.
He needed to lay aside his own interests for one day of the seven.
He needed a Sabbath to remind him of God and to awaken gratitude
because all that he enjoyed came from the hand of the Creator.
God designs that the Sabbath shall direct the minds of men to
His created works. The beauty that clothes the earth is a token of
God’s love. The everlasting hills, the lofty trees, the opening buds
and delicate flowers, all speak to us of God. The Sabbath, pointing to
Him who made them all, bids men open the book of nature and trace
therein the wisdom, power, and love of the Creator.
Our first parents, though created innocent and holy, were not placed
beyond the possibility of wrongdoing. God made them free moral
agents with liberty to yield or to withhold obedience. But before they
could be eternally secure, their loyalty must be tested. At the beginning
of man’s existence a check was placed upon self-indulgence, the fatal
passion that lay at the foundation of Satan’s fall. The tree of knowledge